Night Prowler
by Fire The Canon
Summary: When the boys in Ravenclaw are woken (once again) by Michael Corner's cat, they decide that enough is enough. They must do something to stop it from happening again.


_**Written for the 1991 Challenge (Stephen Cornfoot & Scream)**_

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**Night Prowler**

Stephen was startled awake when a loud scream echoed around the boys' Ravenclaw dormitory. He sat bolt-upright, trying to distinguish where on earth such a noise was coming from. His eyes searched the dark room, looking for some kind of movement, when suddenly –

"Argh! Gerroff me!" Something large and fluffy had landed right on his face, catching him off guard. "Argh, you stupid cat! Get off me!" He took the fluffy white cat and pulled it away from his face. The other four were now awake, some groaning, annoyed at being disturbed so early.

"Who's that?" a voice said groggily, and Stephen recognised it as Michael Corner.

"Me," Stephen groaned, glaring at the shiny eyes he could see staring back at him. "Your stupid cat was on my face."

"Oh… sorry. Vera… Vera, over here!"

The cat hissed, but listened to Michael and joined him on his bed.

"Was on me, too," another voice said – one that belonged to Terry Boot. "Scared the bejeezes out of me. You've gotta keep that cat under control, Michael."

"I was asleep!" Michael argued in protest.

"Well… lock it away, then," Stephen said grumpily. "We need our beauty sleep."

Anthony and Kevin were also awake now, sniggering softly to themselves.

"Yeah, you really do, Stephen," Anthony Goldstein laughed.

Stephen chucked a pillow at him in the dark, missing completely. There was a shattering sound as he realised he'd just destroyed a glass sitting by Anthony's bed.

"Now you've done it."

"You have a wand – fix it yourself," Stephen retorted.

"How about we all go back to sleep?" That was Kevin, yawning as he spoke.

"Yeah… not tired."

"It's three in the morning…."

"Well, I was sleeping until that bloody cat jumped on me."

"Have you ever thought that Vera might actually like you?" Michael was always so defensive of that stupid cat. She wasn't anything special, and was downright annoying, but Michael loved it more than he loved his own mother, Stephen was sure.

"No."

"Well, she does. Now, it's three in the morning, and we have school tomorrow. I'm going back to sleep." In the dark, Stephen saw Michael's shadow pull the covers over his head as he lay back down. From on top, eyes glared back at him.

_Stupid cat_, he thought bitterly. It wasn't the first time the creature had woken him in the middle of the night, or one of the others. Why wasn't she sleeping, anyway?

"How are we supposed to go back to sleep now with that creature watching our every move?" Anthony groaned.

"Maybe we should start sentry duty."

"You volunteering, Steve?" Kevin questioned.

"What? And miss hearing Terry scream like a girl again? I don't think so."

Everyone but Terry seemed to find that funny – even Michael, who was supposedly asleep.

"Or maybe," Anthony began, "maybe we should find… find Vera a friend." It was rare that any of the boys used the cat's name, much preferring to use insults over affectionate terms. From somewhere on top of Michael's bed, Vera purred, as if she knew.

"A friend?" Stephen questioned. "You mean… another cat in here?"

"Think about it," Anthony said. "If she had someone of her own kind to talk to, she wouldn't wake us up every night. They could go hunting for mice or something. We'd get that beauty sleep you so desperately want, Stephen."

Despite himself, Stephen felt a blush creep up on his face. He knew he wasn't the most attractive boy at Hogwarts, but he really wished he hadn't made that comment earlier. His friends would never let him live it down now.

"I'm not getting a cat," Kevin said matter-of-factly. "I have enough trouble looking after an owl."

"I hate cats," Terry added. "Especially that one." Stephen assumed he was pointing to Michael's cat.

"I've got enough to worry about," Stephen said. "I don't have time for pets."

"What do we do then?" Anthony wanted to know.

"Michael really likes cats."

They all fell silent for a moment, listening to the sound of their friend's deep breathing.

"His birthday's coming up in a few weeks," Kevin stated.

"And we have a Hogsmeade trip coming up very soon," Terry added.

"Where there happens to be a pet shop," Stephen continued.

They fell silent again, and Stephen wondered if their minds were in the same place.

"How much is a cat?" Anthony asked.

"Michael would know."

"It can't be too much if we all buy it for him," Stephen said.

"Is this a good idea?" Terry wondered. "_Another_ cat?"

"If it keeps the one we've already got away from us, then yes."

"This could be a terrible, terrible mistake."

"Or a brilliant idea."

"How will we know which?"

"We won't until we get it. And, if it doesn't work, well, we can always return it."

"Like he'll let that happen. Once we're in, we're in, and we may come to regret this."

"But it may also be the best decision we've ever made."

"So, next Hogsmeade trip we buy Michael another cat?"

"Yes."

"I guess."

"I'm out-voted, aren't I?"

It was well past four in the morning by the time any of the boys managed to fall back asleep, their night restless from dreading what was to come in the coming weeks.

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_**This was one of those fics where I started writing and waited to see where it would take me. It's obviously a light-hearted fic of friendship :) I hope you liked it!**_


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